The consultation, Healthcare for the future, is open until 19 December. Its proposals suggest radical changes to the way services are delivered across the county.

"Please share the link to the consultation far and wide and encourage your colleagues, friends and family to respond to it as the decisions that are made after the closing date will affect everyone in Cumbria, said Peta Clark, RCN Northern region operational manager.

“This is your opportunity to have your say about what you think about the proposals. Therefore please let us know what you think of them and what they may mean for the delivery of health care within Cumbria. You may have concerns about what this means for services, patients, or staff or you may be in agreement with what is proposed. Please let us know as we need your views to feed into our response. Having had sight of it, we are relieved to discover that its preferred option for emergency and acute care is to retain 24/7 accident and emergency services at both West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven and the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle,” Peta continued.

"We would appreciate it if members in Cumbria could read the consultation carefully and inform us of any concerns about its content."